2015 FIFA corruption scandal, bribery and corruption scandal involving the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the governing body of international football (soccer). More than two dozen FIFA officials and their associates were implicated in a 24-year self-enrichment scheme that reached the highest levels of FIFA management. Central to the scandal were accusations of bribery connected to the awarding of hosting rights for the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 World Cup to Qatar. From a modest beginning in 1904, when a handful of countries formed the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, FIFA grew in strength to 211